I’ve just finished re-reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (see Marketing Resources, or the excellent Long Tail blog), and still think it’s an essential book for anyone involved with the digital world – so all of us, really.
I do think that many people seem to wilfully ignore Anderson’s assertion that it’s an AND culture, rather than an OR culture. Simply because the long tail of niches is now available and attracting interest does not mean that the short head of hits will disapear…just that the relationships and audience for both has changed. I might watch a three minute fan video created in Halo 3 on Youtube, but that doesn’t exclude me from going to see a film at the cinema on the same evening, for example.
But there is one question, I’d love to ask, particularly as Anderson is Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine. And that’s how he sees the role of the professional Editor/Journalist/Writer developing as they are now forced to coexist within the blurred world of the amateur and professional blogger and writer. The Long Tail suggests there will always be standout publications/websites/writers producing the hits at the head of the graph, but does this provide evidence that there will always be a need for professional staff in editorial teams?
I have my own theories, of course, which I’ll be exploring over the next few days. They begin with the ideas that writing is a skill as well as an art form, and that in a world of infinite choice, consistency is an important commodity. As is inspiration and quality. But I’d love to hear more takes on the idea.